Following a period of consultation with states, international agencies, intergovernmental organisations, and civil society – including members of the Casualty Recorders Network – the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances published its Guiding Principles for the Search for Disappeared Persons in May 2019.
The Guiding Principles aim to consolidate and promote good practice in searching for persons who are ‘Missing’ or subject to enforced disappearance. They incorporate knowledge and expertise in this field from the Committee itself, as well as a wide range of countries and specialised entities in order to identify the most effective mechanisms, procedures and methods for carrying out States’ legal duty to search for disappeared persons. The Guiding Principles also reaffirm the right of civil society, including victims and their relatives, to form organisations aimed at discovering the fate of disappeared persons.
The Guiding Principles can be downloaded in multiple languages from the Committee’s webpage.
